I've been slowly pulling my '96 Ram 1500 apart to do a major tune up. Plenum repair, plugs, wire, cap and rotor, all new hoses (bypass was about to pop when I got in there) new timing chain, and some other stuff like valve cover gaskets and water pump. The old pump is good, but why put an old one back on?

Imagine my joy today when the third intake bolt I removed, the very front one on the drivers side, broke off. From the length of what came out, I suspect it's flush with the head.

 

If you can get the rest of the intake bolts off, remove the intake manifold and break out the MIG welder. The goal is to weld a nut onto the broken bolt to turn/remove it. Unfortunately, those factory intake bolts are soft and aren't the strongest bolts in the world. I found out the hard way when I bolted a chain to the heads using the intake bolts and had one of them snap off while installing the motor into the truck.

 

Alas, I don't have a MIG welder. I have a small stick welder, but I'm not a good welder and my Parkinson's tremor makes welding really difficult. If several bolts break, and they are pretty rusty in there, I'm debating whether to pull the heads and have a machine shop take care of the bolts or pull the engine and do all the work on an engine stand. If I go that route, I'll replace all the expansion plugs in case one or two are rotten and possible replace the oil pump with a high volume one. I've got good pressure, but if it's apart, why not? The water pump that came off was good, but I may put a new one on, just because.

 

The bolts on the front, and rear of the intake, go all the way thru, and not into the engine, you can just drill 'em out.

 

The original engine in my truck was so rusty, I ended up pulling it and replacing it with a good used engine out of a Dakota. While I had the used engine out, I removed all of the freeze plugs, washed out the muck behind the freeze plugs (to help with cooling) and replaced the freeze plugs with deep cup brass plugs (they should be 1-5/8" and the heads use 1-1/4" plugs). I also replaced the timing chain with a new double roller chain and gears, along with a timing chain tensioner. Installed a new water pump and high volume oil pump along with a Milodon deep oil pan and pickup, That engine is still in the truck and runs nicely.

 

Got the intake converted to the upgraded plate. That puppy isn't going to leak this time.




I'm in the process of reassembling the engine. Once I get everything taken care of on the intake, I need to drill the broken bolt out. I've been dribbling penetrating oil on it daily since it broke.

 

If there is enough sticking out, clean up the area where it goes into the head really well, sprinkle liberally with penetrant, grab it with some vice-grips, and tap on the top of the bolt with a hammer, while wiggling the vice-grips back and forth. They usually break loose fairly quickly, and once they do, you can thread them right out. Of course, that assumes there is enough sticking out to get a grip on.

 

It's broken off flush with the block. I have some LH drill bits. Hence my daily dose of penetrant. If I'm lucky, when the bit bites, it may just back out. If nothing else, I may just drill it out and run a bolt and nut through that corner. I've been cleaning the oily buildups off the block and may add a little heat to help things along.

 

If it's one of the four corner bolts, those holes actually pass right thru. Maybe a right-hand drill would just thread it out the bottom of the hole?

 

There's a slight curve to the block under it. I don't know if there's enough room for it to exit underneath. Before I start grinding or drilling, I want to finish the timing chain work. I don't want a chance of metal bits getting in the engine if I can avoid it. I'm cleaning the intake and doing all the fittings on it right now. With the heat, I work a bit then go in the A/C.

Once the lower engine is closed up and the intake is ready to go on, then I'll start drilling. The truck overall looks like I dragged it out of the weeds recently. Mechanically it should be like new when I'm done. As I've worked on stuff, I'm surprised it ran as good as it did. Plenum bolts removed by hand, a flat beer can laying inside under the intake, and oil soaked cigarette butts all over it.